Who Could Love a Beast?
by DanaeP24
Summary: Molly Hooper doesn't have good luck with love, until someone is determined to make her favorite fairy tale come true.
1. Chapter 1

_Just a bit more, Molly girl, and this whole thing will be over. _

That was the mantra that kept running through her mind, pushing her to get past being drenched from head to toe because her umbrella was stolen during the Tube ride home and had been forced to walk even more than usual because the train broke down one station before her usual stop. It seem like the Universe had conspired against her all day, and she needed a break.

When she finally reached her apartment, Molly let out a sigh of relief, she was at last safe and hidden from all the disaster her day had been. She scratched Toby the cat in the head, not caring about the puddles she was leaving all over the floor, meanwhile she decided that because she had survived such a day, she needed to treat herself, which meant one thing: Disney movies.

After taking a hot bath, changing into her comfiest jumper and jogging bottoms, and putting the kettle on to brew some tea, she popped in the first DVD she reached for and pressed play, letting the movie menu start while she finished making that glorious cup of tea she had been looking forward for the most of the day.

"Seriously, Molly. A respectable pathologist wouldn't be caught watching Disney cartoons on her spare time" remarked a deep baritone voice, that came from her couch.

"Sherlock!" Molly said, startled so much by the presence of the world famous Consulting Detective, that her teacup slipped from her hands and landed on the floor. _Thank goodness I didn't start to strip down in the living room!_, her only thought while she reached for a towel to mop up the mess in the kitchen.

"I needed some peace and quiet, and your flat was the only place with decent heating. Mrs. Hudson was going on and on with Mary about this party they want to throw, which is of no interest to me, plus I was bored." Sherlock remarked, walking towards the kitchen, and grabbing the mop, and then proceeding to hand it over to Molly.

For a second, Molly had thought that Sherlock was going to be kind enough to start mopping up the mess himself, seeing that he had been the one responsible for her dropping the cup in the first place, which was her favorite one, the yellow one with a single red rose painted on the handle, a gift that her dad had given her years ago.

"Do you want me to throw this cup away, Molly? It is broken and therefore, useless now"

"No! Don't throw it! It's fine, Sherlock. Look!, it is only a little chip and I don't really mind having a chipped mug. Would you like a cup of tea, Sherlock?" She said, while putting the kettle on again, after finishing cleaning up the prior mess, but received no response.

At last, with a fresh cup of tea in hand, along with a bowl of popcorn she decided to make at the last second, Molly sat down on the couch. To her surprise, a hand reached out to remove the bowl of popcorn from her lap, only to be replaced by Sherlock's head, who immediately assumed what she called his Mind Palace position.

"What is this nonsense you are making me suffer?" Sherlock said after a while, hoping that Molly would turn it off and let him think in peace. "You know I don't really like fairy tales, they serve no purpose at all. They only distract"

"Sherlock, I had a rotten day today, at least let me enjoy my favorite princess story" Molly said quietly, while focusing on the story. "It's called Beauty and the Beast, for your information"

To say that Beauty and the Beast was Molly's favorite Disney story was putting it lightly. Ever since the movie had been released, her dad had called Molly his little Belle, because, similar to the girl in the story, Molly was beautiful and all the boys wanted to be with her but she preferred to read rather than to hang out with other kids. And when her mom had passed away, she had devoted her time to take care of her dad, and would had given anything to be able to save him. Also, her favorite color was yellow, and had always dreamed of meeting her prince in disguise, or have her own massive library, whichever came first.

For a while, everything went silent, which made Molly grateful, because it meant that there was a chance to enjoy a bit of down time, and didn't even notice when she started gently stroking the soft dark curls on Sherlock's head.

What Molly didn't notice was that Sherlock, who at first tried to ignore the movie, actually became engrossed in the story, but mostly, on watching Molly's reactions, and how her eyes sparkled during certain scenes. He even noticed the tears that Molly attempted to hide towards the end of the movie. _Sentiment, pure nonsense_, he thought.

"Good night Molly, I think I had enough sappy princess stuff to last me a lifetime" Sherlock said, after getting up from the couch, reaching for his coat and walking out of her flat.

"Good night, Sherlock" Molly whispered.

Molly was excited, her favorite season had arrived, and with a full swing. Fall was here. She loved it for the changing leaves, the cool air, but mostly because it meant that her birthday was close since it landed on the best day ever, October 31th, Halloween.

As a child, her dad always threw her a costume birthday party, since it was the perfect excuse to be able to dress up on her birthday, but the last couple of years she had to leave the costumes and the parties to the little kids, and just settle with having a drink at home, resting after work, not really in the mood for a party.

But things did change when in the mail, a couple of days later, she got an invitation to a party, the same one that Sherlock had mentioned, and the best thing, is that it was a costume party. _Now, if only I had a good costume to wear,_ she thought, thinking of what was in her wardrobe that could count as a costume.

While working on an autopsy later that day, Molly remembered the yellow dress she had worn to John and Mary's wedding, and thought that maybe she could transform it into a bee costume,"Oh yes, that will work perfectly!" she spoke to herself, when all of a sudden the morgue doors swung open, John and Sherlock coming in.

"Hello Molly, how are..." John had begun to say.

"John, we know Molly is fine, since she decided to actually do her hair today, which she doesn't do unless she is in a happy mood and is currently thinking about that silly party your wife and my landlady are throwing, she is actually excited about it as you can tell by her posture. Now, Molly, I need to see the body of Mrs. Arnold"

"Hello boys!, Sure, Sherlock... give me a second here" Molly said, letting the mean comments Sherlock had just made slide, mostly because indeed, she was really happy about the party since it allowed her the perfect excuse to actually do something fun on her birthday and not just sit alone.

"Sherlock, you don't have to be so rude. My apologies, Molly, you know how he gets when he is in the middle of a case..."

"Yes, the Beast comes out!" Molly said, giggling at the idea, to which Sherlock just shoot them both with the nastiest look he could muster, and then proceeding to storm out of the morgue, with John following suit.

Giggling still at the silly way Sherlock had reacted, Molly proceeded to finish up with Mrs. Arnold's autopsy, and making a mental note to send a copy of her file to Sherlock, just in case.

After a couple of hours, Molly had finished cleaning up her area when she noticed, out of the corner of her eye, something that hadn't been there before, a single red rose inside a bell jar with a note that simply said "For Belle".

She walked up to the counter where the flower stood, and took it out of the jar, wondering how it got there, since other people had come in and out the room, a couple more bodies had arrived, and even her boss, Mike Stamford, had been in the room for a while. Did she had a secret admirer? _Wow, it is so pretty, but you are letting your imagination get carried away, fairy tales __aren't__real, people always think you are way too odd, _Molly thought.

Her mind was brought back to reality when her mobile started ringing, flashing the name Mary Watson on the display. "Molly dear... I am soooooooooooo sorry!" Mary said, as fast and sincere as she could, "I didn't knew Matt was going to be such a jerk and stood you up. Next time I see him, I WILL kill him, I swear... Again, Molly, I'm so sorry about this".

Molly's mind was taken back to that horrible day, the day that she had accepted a blind date set up by her newest best friend, thinking she could finally put Tom, her ex-fiance behind and have another go at dating, only to get stood up. "It's okay, Mary, I know you meant well, but I think I do have to take a break from dating... I think the Universe hates me at the moment", Molly admitted.

"Molly, don't be such a downer... I know your prince is out there, but he must be a bit slow, or maybe he is stuck up a tree trying to get phone reception so he can call you so he can be saved. Don't give up now!" Mary sighed, thinking that Molly might be rolling her eyes on the other side of the phone, mostly for the ridiculous scenario, but she couldn't help it, it was fun to make her laugh with things that made no sense and that were guaranteed to bring a smile out of her friend.

"Mary, at this point, I think my supposed prince might have caught a glimpse at me and decided to pursue other options or simply ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction, but thank you for trying. For now, I think I will settle for making Toby the only man in my life. Agreed?" Molly said, laughing at the idea of a regal prince running away with a panicked face. "Okay... but I want to make it known that I'm backing down only because you are asking, but I'm not making any promises, I really would love to play Cupid for once!".

Molly thought for a second about asking Mary if she knew something about that rose, but decided that it was better to hold that information to herself, because she suspected that if Mary got a hold of it, it would only fuel her idea that someone out there had feelings for Molly, and she didn't really want to be dealing with that added pressure, the blind date set up was enough as it is, so she only gave her goodbyes to Mary, promising to get together sometime to discuss how Molly could help with the party, and maybe also grab a bite to eat.

Immediately, she reached again for the rose that been lying in front of her for the whole duration of that phone call and turning it over, maybe she had missed a clue about who had sent it or something, but her search yielded no results, or at least not the ones she expected, so instead walked towards the sink, grabbed a beaker and filled it with water and put the rose in it, carried it back to her desk and got back to the mountain of paperwork still in need of processing.

John felt uneasy, something was definitely off. _This is not like him, Sherlock doesn't text me more than once, even if the situation is dire. Come over, ASAP – SH_, that had been the message that had been delivered to John's mobile three times in the last 20 minutes, making him think of the worst case scenario and made him run as fast as he could to reach Baker Street.

Once there, John could hear the last few strains of a lovely song being played on a violin, which made him breathe with a little more ease, but still wary about the reason of such urgency. At last he reached for the door to Sherlock's flat, only to find him sitting on his usual seat, sipping on a cup of tea, the violin by his side on the floor. "Okay Sherlock, I'm here... What is it? Is everyone okay? Are your parents missing? Mycroft? Is Mary in labor and unable to reach me?"

"John, I didn't expect your arrival so soon, I was planning on asking you to pick up something on your way here, but never mind, I can have someone from my homeless network do that. Mycroft is currently attending a World Summit in Monaco along with his assistant, but in reality, he is actually eloping with Anthea. My parents, along with Anthea's parents are on their way to Monaco to surprise my brother and my future sister in law at the ceremony, that's my wedding gift for them. As for Mary, you should know more, you actually saw her before leaving, and were speaking with her on the phone less than 10 minutes ago, judging for the fact that your phone is on the left pocket of your jacket instead of your trouser pocket, like you usually carry. "

"So why the BLOODY HELL did you text me several times to come here as soon as I could? Huh? What could be so important?"

"Oh yes, Mrs. Hudson was being her usual annoying self and I needed you to drag her away from my flat. Fortunately, she left about 5 minutes before you arrived. We do have a couple of important things to do, and a case, Gordon just texted me."

"Gordon? Do you mean Greg Lestrade?"

"Gordon, Geoff, George, Greg, it is all the same, is not something that I would find useful anytime soon, so I prefer to delete it. Now follow suit, there is something far more crucial that needs to be done than a simple stabbing we are being summoned to solve" Said Sherlock, while putting on his coat and scarf before heading out.

_Molly, I need you – SH_

Molly's heart started to flutter for a second after reading the latest text message that had arrived at her phone, when a couple seconds later, another message arrived.

_Never entrust John with __accurate__texting capabilities while riding a cab. I still need you to wait on starting the autopsy on Mr. Ferguson until we arrive - SH_

How Sherlock had figured out that the next autopsy on her list was the one for Mr. Ferguson was still a mystery, but she knew that it was better to comply to his request, simply because she wasn't in the mood to deal with a temperamental person, at least not when her day was going so well, daydreaming of a secret admirer and that red rose.

Sherlock had strode in to the mortuary, already making demands. "Molly, I need to see Mr. Ferguson nose, and can you please hand me that rose, the one sitting in your desk"

"Wh.. Why? That was a gift, plus, it's already wilting"

"I just need the pollen, I suspect that someone caused Mr. Ferguson's death by making him have an anaphylactict reaction to a certain kind of flower, and I suspect that it is similar, if not the same as the rose in your desk, and not from the stabbing wounds, which did not actually hit any major artery."

As Molly walked out of the morgue towards her desk, John noticed Sherlock texting away on his mobile, while muttering to himself about someone not being fast enough and that they where screwing it all "They will screw up what, Sherlock? Is there something you aren't telling me?"

"No, this has nothing to do with this particular case, so never you mind. Ah Molly! Thanks"

Molly watched as Sherlock carefully extracted the pollen out of her rose with the utmost care, like if he was handling a crystal flower, and handed it back to her, similar to handing a baby back to the mother, and for a tiny moment, she thought Sherlock had a tender side. "Molly, you should throw that flower away, its use has long passed, plus assigning sentiment to an inanimate object is rather childish gesture."

She decided to ignore his remarks and simply return the flower to her desk, because although it was indeed wilting and losing petals, it still had beauty in it, plus, it had been a gift, and she wasn't good with letting gifts go, so she planned to dry the rose and add it to her treasure box, where she kept those gifts more valuable to her, amid the movie ticket stub from her very first date to the candy wrapper of the last candy her dad had bought her, the things she valued most.

Upon reaching her desk, a glint caught her eye, and cautiously approached her desk, fearing that someone might be hiding or worst, her fears still alive from the time she saw the video of her ex-boyfriend Moriarty playing on her computer monitor. Thankfully, the Moriarty situation had been long since been resolved by Sherlock, but an inkling of fear remained inside Molly. Once she calmed herself down and confirmed that no one, besides her, was in the office, she froze, upon seeing more closely what was left in her desk.

A delicate gold necklace with a pendant of a red rose, an exact replica of the first one.


	2. Chapter 2

At first, Molly thought that her secret admirer, if it was even that, might be someone working at Bart's, since both gifts had been left there, but everyone she questioned, from her boss to the nice young boy who would come in and clean in the early mornings, had no clue about those gifts, bringing her deductions back to square one.

Things got a bit more interesting when one morning after her usual night shifts, she arrived at her flat only to find that a brand new bookshelf had been placed in her tiny living room, along with a new note that said "Belle, this is so you can fill it with the most wondrous stories". Everything had been rearranged so the perfect reading nook was created in her sitting room, and the fact that someone knew that she enjoyed books more than anything else, was a huge thrill for Molly.

After a good shower and sleep, she got up, and decided that it was time to do the shopping, mostly so she could have the excuse to swing by the used bookstore on the way to the market and start filling up her new bookshelf. On her way, a little girl was walking side by side to her parents, already wearing a Cinderella Halloween costume, which made Molly smile at the little girl and curtsy when she past her, which just made the little girl giggle. What Molly didn't see was that when she curtsied, she did it too close to an elderly man and almost bumped into him when she lift her head back. "Be careful, my dear, you wouldn't want to hurt yourself"

"Sir, I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there... Are you alright?"

"Yes I am, beautiful girl, thank you for asking. By the way, I think you drop this" Said the kind old man, handing her a small book.

"Oh no, I think you are mistaken, I think this is yours, I wasn't carrying a book with me, at least not yet"

"I was told that this book belongs to a beautiful lady, and that is you, my girl, I'm certain of it, therefore, you need to take it and I wont accept a no for an answer"

"Why thank you! Thank you very much!"

Molly carefully opened the book, a rather old and weathered volume, which turned out to be a fairy tale book, but more precisely, a copy of the same fairy tale book that her mother had bought for her before she was born, and that unfortunately was misplaced during the move she and her dad did to London after her death. She had been looking for another copy far and wide all over, proving rather impossible, since the print had been discontinued a long time ago. She quickly looked up to ask the old man who had given him the book, but he had apparently left and was nowhere in sight, leaving her with more questions than answers as to who was doing all those nice things for her.

In the following days, more books arrived at her flat, some delivered by normal post, mostly containing books related to pathology, anatomy and medicine, some of them being on her wishlist for such a long time; Other books seemed to sprout magically in the seat she was about to take on the Tube, the table she usually sat in the canteen during dinner or even a copy of her favorite novella, Coraline, handed to her by Neil Gaiman himself outside the coffee shop she usually went before work. Every single one of the books had in them a note that always said the same: "To Belle". In no time, her bookcase was almost filled with what she considered to be the best library in existence.

But the oddest surprise of all happened during one of her shifts, when she realized that she had forgotten to fetch herself a cup of coffee before everything closed, and was already in need of a fix of something sugary and warm, otherwise finishing the paperwork for the day would prove to be an impossible task, at least without falling asleep in the middle of it. Molly frantically searched her desk, in the hopes of finding a stray tea bag that she could take to the lab and quickly brew up herself a cup of tea, but alas, her search was unsuccessful, only finding a sugar sachet and some old breath mints at the bottom of her drawer.

Resigned to having to suffer through the long night, Molly thought for a second to call someone to bring her something, _Maybe Sherlock could do that_, but then laughed at the idea of him trying to brew a decent cup of tea, which he would surely spike with something just so he could experiment with her reactions, and that was the last thing she needed, to be drugged in the middle of her shift.

She then remembered that a couple of nurses had offered her the use of their lounge and their kettle, grateful at the generosity of others, and almost skipping for happiness, she headed to the third floor, where the lounge was located. Upon arrival, she noticed that a box with a card addressed to her was on the table, indicating that her admirer had struck again with another surprise.

The box held the most exquisite tea set made of white porcelain with gold accents and a purple, blue and pink design all around on the tea kettle, the sugar bowl, the creamer and the cups, which was already set up, as if ready for the most regal tea party, along with a tray of what seemed to be freshly baked biscuits and small sandwiches. What surprised her the most was that her yellow chipped mug was on the table, tea already prepared exactly as she liked it, Earl Gray tea with a bit of milk and 2 sugars. She almost cried with relief and joy, thinking on how much that someone knew her.

Thinking about all the personal details of the gifts she had been receiving, her instinct kept telling her that those gifts were coming from Tom, the guy who less than 6 months ago had been her fiance and who knew more than everyone all her hopes, dreams and wildest wishes, as well as her favorite things, but was also aware that he wasn't Molly's type, which caused the engagement to be broken, but even then, he still tried everything to go through with the wedding and the attempt to make Molly happy.

Everything seemed to fit. Tom had the means to buy all the gifts that Molly had received so far, since he was the heir of a small fortune and even held a small nobility title, but preferred not to use it, or to announce it to the world; He was good looking and could charm any women, as he did with Molly's landlady, who could have easily allowed him access to Molly's flat to bring in the bookcase, and who also had a cousin that worked at Bart's as a nurse, who could have easily slipped all those gifts.

For days she tried to remember every single detail that had been shared with the man who she thought would be her only companion for life, going from her dislike of celery, to her favourite color, to her obsession with Disney, and her wild dream of one day going to Disneyland in California. She even suggested that they should go there for their honeymoon, but Tom decided not to, since he was afraid of flying, and disliked going to places where he could die of dehydration.

But the memory that kept reoccurring was the fact that for one of their anniversaries, Tom planned a date where he got some of Molly's favorite things, like her favorite drink, favorite food and dessert, had them delivered to her flat, and watched whatever movie she desired. Molly didn't even gave it a second thought and picked Beauty and the Beast, finally admitting to Tom that her all time favorite movie was actually a cartoon; Thankfully, Tom didn't mind, or at least, didn't indicate otherwise, and to Molly, that became the perfect date.

Molly fought the impulse to call or text Tom and outright ask him to confess that it was him the one that was trying to impress Molly again, not knowing if it would be right of her to do so, since she still wasn't fully clear on her feelings towards him, which had been the main reason they both decided to end the engagement, because deep down they both knew that they weren't each other's type in the end, but that didn't meant that their love for each other didn't exist. Deep down she hoped that indeed he was trying to win her back.

In a whim of courage, she had composed the text message that she was going to send to him, but just before pressing the send button, her mind stopped her in her tracks, and simply sent the message to her draft folder, at the ready in case her courage came back and allowed her to send that message.

As if on command, as soon as she was putting her phone away, Sherlock came striding in her flat, taking his scarf and coat off and hanging them away. "I'm here because I need your help, Molly. We will need to go to Bart's, I need a couple of fingers for some experiments, plus I need access to the laboratory. But first, I need to use my Mind Palace, so I need for you not to be so distracting, and please, do not play again those silly animated features you seem to favour"

"Sherlock, why are you even here? Don't you have a place of your own to do some thinking or something? I seem to recall the address as being something like 221 B Baker Street and not my flat on my only day off this week"

"Bored, plus Mrs. Hudson banned me from entering my flat, something about having to deep clean it before the party. I objected, to the party, not the cleaning, except for the dusting. Dust can tell you a lot"

"Right, the party! That reminds me, I still need to get a couple of things in order for me to finish my costume." She remarked while going and sitting down at her new favorite spot, the reading nook and picking one fo the books she had received about the most recent advances in chromatography application in forensic science, which she was devouring as if it had been the newest Harry Potter novel.

Instead of being able to delve into his own mind, Sherlock was too distracted by Molly's mind going a thousand miles an hour, absorbing as much knowledge has she could, and found himself just staring at her face, how she scrunched up her nose when reading something she found amusing or drummed her fingers against the spine of the book when she disagreed with the statement given.

After about reading close to half the book, Molly remembered that Sherlock was also in her flat, and quickly glanced his way, only to find him actually lying on his side, fast asleep, along with Toby, her cat, curled up at his feet. Remembering the fact that Mary had mentioned to her that both John and Sherlock had just solved a rather difficult case, she realized that he must had been exhausted, and that Mrs. Hudson's plan of converting Sherlock's flat into a Haunted House might not been the best setting for a well-deserved rest. She proceeded to quietly walk up to the sofa and grab the blanket she always kept folded there, and gently covered Sherlock with it.

She decided that in order to give him further peace and quiet, she would go and do a bit of shopping, maybe get something for her and Sherlock to eat before heading to the lab. Molly took her jacket, her favorite long scarf and headed out into the cold that October brought.

A couple of hours later, and with all the materials she needed to make herself the antennae and transform her yellow dress into a cute bee costume, and even stopping to get Chinese food, the cold got to Molly, who remembered that on her way home there was this tiny coffee shop, and that if she was going to accompany Sherlock into Bart's to help with lab work, a coffee would be in order.

While waiting for her coffee (and one for Sherlock. Black, 2 sugars), Molly took a seat and grabbed the first section of the newspaper that was on the table. Her eyes were drawn immediately to a particular part of the newspaper. To her surprise, the portion she took was the Announcements part, which listed the name of a well-known actress and Tom, her ex, stating that they had gotten married that past weekend. Molly knew that Tom had dated the actress gal, but that she didnt want to settle when Tom proposed. Things had changed since then, apparently.

It had not been more than 6 months since their engagement broke up, which made Molly wonder if she even mattered at all, as far as being taken seriously and being loved, and not be treated like something that could be thrown in the bin when useless. She walked out of the coffee shop, leaving the coffees behind and headed back to her flat in a sort of daze, not exactly knowing whether she should feel offended or sad at the situation Tom had put her in.

Tears threaten to start falling as soon as she opened the door to her flat, when the rush of memories came to her, making her think that maybe they were just a lie, or an illusion on her part. She left her bags on top of the table, sat down on the sofa just as her body was overtook by the sobs she had tried to contain while in public, covering her face with her hands.

"Mr. Meat Dagger is an idiot, Molly, and I will make sure that this situation is dealt with in the proper manner" Sherlock said to her, while awkwardly patting her on the back, in an attempt to comfort her. Molly laughed in between her sobs, feeling grateful that she had people for whom she really mattered.


	3. Chapter 3

In the same way that all the mystery gifts had started appearing, they stopped. Molly felt a bit sad that her secret admirer, or her Beast, as she had began to call him in her mind, had in a way let her go, just so she could deal with the real world and not have her head wrapped in daydreams and fantasy, something that, in hindsight, had been the most merciful thing to do.

For the next couple of days, all her focus was placed solely on her work, and on finishing her bee costume, which she decided to make as accurate as possible, but still managing to look cute and be comfortable so she could dance all night, after all, she deserved to have a bit of good time.

Molly's excitement grew back up because, at last, her birthday had arrived!

That morning, she woke up with the feeling that something incredible was in store for her that day, her head mostly thinking of the delicious chocolate cake that Mrs. Hudson baked, and had promised to serve at the party, as a treat for Molly's birthday. It had been a long time since someone had baked her a proper birthday cake, which made her look forward even more to the party.

Thankfully, her boss had given her the day off, as a way of saying thanks for being willing to cover the shifts that other didn't want, and basically because Mike always said that Molly was the best worker he had managed to convince to work at the morgue, so she took her sweet time getting out of bed, and then cook herself her favorite breakfast consisting of french toast and fluffy scrambled eggs.

Just as she was about to take the first bite, her mobile started ringing, and without even noticing who the caller was, mostly thinking someone was calling to congratulate her, she answered the call. "Molly, thank goodness you picked up! Listen, the person that was supposed to come in and work down at the morgue just called in sick and I cannot get anyone else to cover and I fear that if we don't get anyone here soon, we will fall behind. Can you come in right now?"

"Sure, Mike, I'll be there in about half an hour" Said Molly, looking sadly at the breakfast that she wouldn't be able to enjoy anymore. She took her plate, dumped her scrambled eggs unto Toby's plate, who immediately began devouring the food, grabbed a piece of french toast to eat, while she headed towards her bedroom in order to start getting everything ready for an unplanned day of work.

After a quick shower, Molly was ready to leave, when she remembered that there wouldn't be enough time for her to return to her flat after work to change and make it to the party on time. She ran back to her room, grabbed the costume and all the accessories she had made for it, grabbed her coat, scarf, and began running in order to reach the Tube station the fastest she could.

It seemed that everyone was in the same hurry as her to reach their destinations. When Molly reached the station, a sigh of relief escaped her, not knowing that she had been holding her breath. _This is just a minor bump in the road, Molly, you can still get to enjoy your day later on, no need to worry, _Molly thought, trying to look on the bright side of the situation.

Her phone buzzed, indicating that a message had arrived for her. Trying to maneuver everything she had in her hands, she reached for her pocket.

_Molly dear, Mrs. Hudson is feeling under the weather today. The party is still on, but she wont be able to make the cake. See you later! - Mary_

Sad at the news she had just received, Molly still thought about what she could bring Mrs. Hudson in order to make her feel better. Suddenly the train jerked to a sudden stop, causing the person standing next to her to bump into her, and in the process, a loud crack was heard. Molly looked down and realized that in her fumbling, the antennae headband had fallen and she had stepped on it, breaking it. Molly was about to pick up the pieces, when the train started moving again, causing the pieces to slide away from her grasp and under the seat.

Molly attempted to find a way to retrieve the pieces, with the hopes that she could piece them back together or something, but since more people started crowding the car, it seemed like an impossible task in the short time she had left before her stop. When the train finally reached her stop, Molly had to push through several people that had been blocking her exit, which caused for her to barely miss the doors closing in front of her.

Once in the platform, a tug pulled her back slightly towards the train car. Her dress had gotten caught in the doors, and was now being ripped apart as the train pulled away from the platform. Molly put the shredded remains of her dress she was able to rescue on her bag, even when she knew there was no way to rescue the dress, leaving her without a costume and without the opportunity to make another one, or even buy one.

Today was not turning out as she had expected at all.

As soon as she got to Bart's, Mike grabbed her, and handed her a large stack of files of all the work that had surprisingly piled up since her last shift, briefing her on which ones needed to be completed right away while they walked together towards the lockers, just so she could leave her stuff, put on her lab coat and be able to start tackling all the tasks at hand.

Things only seemed to go downhill from that point, work appeared to be never ending, then at lunch someone knocked her tray of her hands and didnt even bother to offer to replace her food, and to top it all off, Sherlock came into the lab. "Molly, drop what you are doing, which is no doubt, pointless. I need you to come and assist me in the lab and process some samples for me"

"Sherlock, I've..." Molly had started to argue, thinking everything she still needed to do, when Sherlock grabbed her coat sleeve, and began to lead her towards the laboratory, almost dragging her. "Hold on! I wanted to grab..."

"This needs to be done immediately Molly, we cannot waste any time. I have a packet of biscuits for you to eat since I can see that your lunch was knocked from out your hands, judging by the stain in the left sleeve of your lab coat and that you had to leave most of your breakfast behind going by the small syrup smudge you missed by your right ear. Please walk fast now."

By the time Sherlock had finished using the lab equipment, the place looked as if a tornado had passed through, everything was a mess, and since everyone had scattered away so quickly, Molly ended up having to clean everything by herself. In the process of carrying some test tubes to the sink in order to empty them, Molly slipped on a tiny puddle she hadn't noticed being there before, causing the mysterious liquid Sherlock had been testing to spill all over her front. Thankfully, the liquid turned out to be a soft drink, but it did left her clothes all sticky and wet.

_Just what I needed! To become a human size fly trap. Maybe if I wait long enough in the correct spot, I can attract enough bees and go as a beehive to the party. _While she was lost in her thoughts, Molly bumped into another coworker, who started yelling at Molly for not noticing where she was going. She only resorted to keep walking, with her head down, and just head to the showers.

She had never felt this abandoned and hopeless, it really seemed that the Universe was putting all the effort to screw up with her. Tears rolled down her face, she was no longer able to contain her frustration and sadness. Everything that could have gone wrong did, and then some. She pulled her phone out, and sent out a message to Mary.

_Feeling exhausted, will be skipping the party. I'll see you later. _

No response arrived to her phone. _Mary must be busy with the last details of the party to even notice her phone_. Everyone seemed to be ignoring Molly, which only aggravated her feelings of loneliness. She opened her locker, pulled out the change of clothes she always had in her bag for such emergencies, grabbed a big fluffy towel from the rack, left the clothes in the bench right next to the shower stall and headed in.

After a long hot shower she felt had been deserved, Molly wrapped herself with the towel and headed out of the stall, turned around looking at the whole place, thinking something was not right, when finally it dawned on her. "MY CLOTHES ARE MISSING!"

Her yell had echoed in the empty bathroom. She sat down on the bench, dropping the towel to the floor and remaining only in her underwear, trying to remember her steps prior to entering the shower, but couldn't remember exactly. Frantically, she started looking everywhere for her clothes, thinking that maybe she had left them somewhere else by mistake and that she had imagined placing them on the bench, but her clothes had vanished. She would have to wear the wet, sticky clothes she had on previously, much to her dismay.

Molly headed back to the locker, wishing she could somehow teleport home so her misery could end as soon as possible. Once she managed to open the door to her locker, she was almost not surprised to find that the rest of her belongings were also missing, and that they had been replaced by 3 boxes, along with a note. Molly took the note first.

" Molly,

Your presence is required, please wear what it is the boxes.

Start with the bigger box.

Please."

It was that last word that perplexed her and made her curious about what was on those boxes. Carefully, she took them out of the locker, and proceeded to open the big box, which revealed a lovely yellow dress with a full skirt that had drapes falling all over. She had seen that dress before, but couldn't place it exactly, but it was such a pretty dress, pretty enough for a princess.

Molly took the dress and put it on, thinking that it was either wearing the dress or going out in her knickers. When she finally faced the mirror, her hands went straight up to her mouth. "It's Belle's dress!" she whispered to herself, not believing that one of her wildest dreams was coming true. She started softly swaying the skirt from side to side, admiring such a pretty dress. Molly had always wanted to dress as Belle, but never mentioned that to anyone, it was a silly dream.

The rest of the boxes contained everything else she needed to complete the look, from the elbow length yellow gloves, yellow flats that matched the dress exactly, earrings, and the prettiest golden clutch with tiny red roses embroidered that contained her mobile and her wallet. Molly couldn't help but feel giddy at the idea of finally becoming Belle, at least for one night.

She took one final look in the mirror, not recognizing herself, she saw a princess in front of her, and not the pathologist that worked at Bart's, and strangely, it made her happy, pretending to be someone else for a while, someone whose life was better, and a princess that lovely looking needed to attend a ball.

_i don't think I will be able to maneuver a Tube ride all the way to Baker Street wearing this. This princess needs a chariot. _

Grateful that pretty much everyone at Bart's had already gone home, Molly headed towards the street, hoping to catch a cab quickly, as to not call much attention to herself. Despite being the end of October, the weather was being kind enough for her, she didn't feel the cold, she could only feel the excitement filling her up.

As she was to raise her hand to hail a cab, a white town car headed her way and stopped in front of her. A man stepped out of the back seat, leaving the door open. "Ms. Hooper, kindly step in." Said the man, who began to lead her by the elbow towards the car. Molly had no choice than to enter into the back seat of the car. The door was closed and they started driving.

Fear started to rise once she noticed that the car wasn't headed towards a destination she was familiar with. Molly took out her mobile, hurriedly sending a text to the first number that came to her mind. _Help me_. Not a couple of seconds had passed when a response arrived to her phone. _On my way – SH. _Apparently she had texted Sherlock. She put the phone back into her clutch and started to think what she could do to defend herself.

After a while, the car stopped. Molly's door was opened and the same man who had led her into the car, extended his hand to help her step out. She couldn't believe her eyes. They had arrived to one of the most gorgeous castles she had ever seen. The path from the car to the entrance was lined with candles, making Molly feel that she had just entered a fairy tale story. "Ms. Hooper, please go in, you are expected inside."

Carefully, she walked towards the entrance, and pushed the door in. Inside, she could hear a violin being played softly, the tune somehow familiar, but couldn't exactly place it, because at that moment, she was too busy admiring the beauty of the place. She then noticed stairs leading up to the second floor, where the music seem to emanate. Curiosity got the best of her, as she decided to follow the music, her way lined up with even more candles.

Everything led her to a bedroom, where a single red rose laid on top of a four post bed, along with a note.

" Belle,

Please head to the door on your right. "

Molly could hear the music even louder now. She hesitated actually obeying the orders being given, being afraid to walk straight into a trap. _Maybe I should wait for Sherlock to find me_. But something deep inside her wanted to find out what was really happening, she got up and opened the door.

The door lead to another staircase, one that mirrored the one on the other side of the room. As she started to descend the staircase, her dress swaying with every step she took, one hand on the banister, Molly was able to recognize the piece of music being played. It was the Beauty and the Beast song. She kept her focus on her feet, being careful not to fall down.

When she reached a small landing, Molly looked up and was shocked to see who was descending the staircase opposite hers.

_Is this real? Is this really happening? _

"Yes Molly, this is real", said Sherlock, who had just arrived at the landing, and proceeded to bow down to Molly, who in returned curtsied, just like in the movie. His arm extended towards Molly to help her down the next flight of stairs.

Sherlock was dressed exactly as the Beast. The blue and gold coat, the gold waist coat, his trousers showing his slender handsome figure and boots, his eyes matching the blue and gold of the outfit. She had never seen Sherlock quite so handsome, making her feel breathless.

They reached the ballroom floor, Molly's arm around Sherlock, who then grabbed Molly and lead her into a dance. She was no longer a girl dressed as Belle, she was living the story. Molly couldn't help but to smile and lay her head on Sherlock's shoulder as they both waltzed around the room .

Once the piece was over, Molly straightened herself and still grabbing Sherlock's hands, finally, she got to see her whole surroundings, taking notice that the place had been carefully recreated as the ballroom from the movie. When she had gathered the courage necessary to look at Sherlock directly, he let go of one of her hand and started leading her towards the balcony outside, into the starry night.

"Sherlock, you did this? For me?"

"Of course Molly, Who else would deserve all of this? I thought the gifts had made it fairly obvious"

"Gifts? What gif... Oh" Molly said, a giant smile on her face. "Thank you, Sherlock, all those details were beautiful. B... But why?"

"I've only been horrible to you, behaving like a Beast. I don't know how you could stand up with it, even John gets fed up and leaves." Sherlock said, standing up, taking off his coat and putting it around Molly's shoulders. "But not you, you are always there."

Molly had been rendered speechless, and only dared to look lovingly at Sherlock, who was facing her, hands behind his back, looking dapper as always.

" I thought I was resigned to be a Beast all my life, without love. Caring is not an advantage, as stated by my brother, so I taught myself to distance my feelings, to ignore them, never expecting to be loved by anyone. Then you came, Molly. The person that mattered the most." Sherlock sat down next to her, grabbed her hand and softly started to caress it. " I was aware of your feelings towards me, and I admit that I indeed took advantage of that in the past, but I never imagined that someone could learn to love a Beast. You proved me wrong Molly. "

Molly was about to reply to his argument when his hands slowly raised her up, and she felt his lips pressing against hers. It was a sweet, tender kiss, that hinted of his desire to embrace her, hold her close. Sherlock's hands slowly released hers in order to wrap around her neck and the back of her head, bringing her closer. Molly moved her hands, almost automatically towards his neck, weaving her fingers on his deep dark curls, deepening his kiss even more.

Sherlock softly broke the kiss, only to move his soft, warm lips towards her neck, that tasted of oranges and formaldehyde, Molly's usual scent. This sent a shiver down Molly's spine, which caused Sherlock to tighten the embrace, giving her all his warmth.

"When you made me watch that film with you, I realized why you like it so much, I realized that it was our story. You, the beautiful, but misunderstood girl, who did whatever was necessary to save those she loves, and me, the Beast. You taught me how to love, and... "

"I love you too, Sherlock". Molly didn't want for him to let go. She felt safe, warm, and that she really did matter, that all the hurt and pain she had endured was now being left behind, with a bright and happy future. Sherlock carefully sat her down, and proceeded to again take a seat next to her, both as close to each other as possible. "Happy birthday, Molly Hooper." Said Sherlock, kissing her forehead. "Please close your eyes, and follow me."

Molly obliged, closing her eyes, letting herself be led by Sherlock, who took her back inside. He let go of her hands, but lingering a bit, not wanting to release her at all. She was left standing there, her eyes still closed, listening to his steps getting away slightly from her.

"Sherlock, can I open my eyes now?"

"Not yet, Molly, be patient"

"What about now?"

"Okay, now!"

To the shouts of "Surprise!" Molly opened her eyes to see all her friends, from childhood friends to Greg Lestrade, Mary, John and Mrs. Hudson, all standing in front of her. Sherlock had brought the party to her. She ran back to him, who picked her up by the waist, twirled her around before putting her back on the floor and kissing her again with such passion that people started cheering and whooping for them. Blushing, Molly broke the kiss, a huge smile in her face.

Music started to fill the room and everyone began dancing, even Sherlock, who would never admit to anyone that he liked to do so, never leaving Molly's side. They only stopped so Molly could cut into the cake that was brought out, a 3 tier cake made according to Mrs. Hudson chocolate cake recipe and that had decorated to match Molly's outfit. This was turning out to be Molly's best birthday ever.

During a slow song, Sherlock took Molly by the hand and led her back into the balcony. In there, Molly noticed, was a tea cart with two flutes of champagne. Sherlock took one, and handed it to Molly, and proceeded to take one for himself, raising it, as to make a toast. "To Molly, my Belle... The one who taught me how to love." He took a sip and then lightly kissed her cheek, which felt the tiny bubbles of the champagne burst in her skin while taking a tiny sip herself.

"I have something else for you... Here" Sherlock then presented her with an envelope. Carefully she opened it, not knowing what to expect. Molly pulled from inside what seemed to be two really colorful ticket stubs, which landed on her lap. She gasped when she realized what they really were, got up and sat on his lap, hugging him and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

They were tickets to go to Disneyland in California. Somehow Sherlock had managed to learn that Molly wanted more than anything to go there, and that she had been saving to go for ages, never actually managing the courage to take such a long trip by herself. It was her one big wish she always dreamt about, and now it was coming true.

"I hope you are ready. We leave tomorrow afternoon." He remarked, while placing both flutes back into the cart "Mycroft has set up for us to take a private jet from a place called Fitton, and we are staying in the Dream Suite once we get there. Only the best for you, my Belle."

"Sherlock, Thank you... Thank you very much"

This time, Sherlock felt her hands reach into his shoulders, lowering him in order for her to reach Sherlock's lips, and kissed him, as if they had never kissed before.

Two years later, on the same date, Molly found herself almost reliving the same scenario as that fateful night, only this time, she knew what to expect.

Once she reached the foyer of the castle, she smoothed her white dress, which had been fashioned to be similar to her yellow Belle dress, while Mary handed her the yellow and red rose bouquet and Mrs. Hudson straighten the veil on her head.

"Nervous?" Mary said, while smiling at the lovely bride.

"No. I was born ready!"

Sherlock and Molly had traveled to California at least once a year, usually around her birthday, always visiting their new favorite place, usually taking with them John and Mary and the lovely Isabel Watson or Anthea and Mycroft would decide to tag along. But about 6 months prior, only the two of them had taken the trip.

Molly had to attend a pathology conference where she had been asked to speak, while Sherlock had been called to help with a rather grizzly murder of a movie star, a case that he had only deemed a 6, but decided to take the trip only to accompany her.

Since her talk ended earlier than expected, she decided to pop in for a quick visit to her favorite theme park, go for a ride or two, and go look for Belle, and see if the Beast was as cute as hers. She had attempted to call Sherlock to tell him where she was, but only reached his voice mail, so she left a tiny message, telling him to meet her by the wishing well.

After a while, Molly decided to take a break and sat down for a while in front of the castle, admiring the little girls all dressed up as tiny princesses, and the boys acting like knights or pirates, when suddenly she was approached by a lady in a peasant costume. "Belle, there you are! We have been looking for you, come!". Molly thinking that it was part of a skit, decided to follow her.

She was lead inside the castle, where all the princesses, including Belle stood, and at the end of the line was Sherlock, again dressed in the Beast costume. He knelt down and proposed to Molly, who accepted gladly, and that same night the preparations for the wedding began.

Molly followed the path into the ballroom, same as before, with memories of the many happy experiences Sherlock had given her flooding her mind, causing a huge grin to appear in Molly's face. In front of her, descended Isabel, the flower girl, skipping along the steps, in her cute yellow dress, followed by Anthea, her very soon-to-be sister-in-law, and Mary, her matron of honor.

It was finally her turn, when muscle memory seemed to activate, her right hand on the banister, but now, her eyes were focused on Sherlock, who was already waiting for her on the landing, ready to walk down the aisle with her, his perfect smile already beaming at her, and only her. He looked like royalty and made her feel like a true princess, one that had finally found her prince in disguise.


End file.
